The 2026 NBA playoffs will begin on April 18. The 2025-26 regular season wraps up on April 12, giving teams a short break before the postseason tips off. The Play-In Tournament, introduced in 2021 to keep more teams competitive and reduce tanking, determines the final two playoff spots in each conference.

Contenders like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks have advanced to the knockout round of the 2025 NBA Cup.

If Portland wins, Denver has to run up the score on the Spurs on Friday to advance as the top second-place team. The Nuggets currently have a better point differential than the Clippers and Suns, but they trail the Wolves and Thunder in the tiebreaker.

While James will be available for the game, the Lakers will still be missing several contributors. Deandre Ayton, Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent have all been ruled out of the game due to various ailments. Meanwhile, the Jazz will be without Walker Kessler and Georges Niang.

With only a little more than a week left in NBA Cup group play, here's an updated look at the standings and what fans have to look forward to.

The third edition of the NBA In-Season Tournament kicks off in November. Here's a guide to the action in the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup.

The Los Angeles Lakers saw a 108-125 loss on Monday vs. the Suns that snapped their recent seven-game losing streak.

NBA Cup games in the group stage, the quarterfinal round and the semifinal round all count as regular season games. That means that teams who don't make the quarterfinal or semifinal actually have a couple new games added to their schedule to make sure everyone plays the same 82 games.